Superhero movies news

Before I move on with new news, let me briefly revisit Batman again: Latino Review, who scored the first Batman Begins script review and scooped the casting of Brandon Routh as Superman in Superman Returns, are reporting that Aaron Eckhart is the new top choice to play Harvey Dent — the Gotham D.A. who will become Two Face — alongside Christian Bale’s Batman and Heath Ledger’s Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. LR also mentions that Maggie Gyllenhaal has joined the ranks of actresses tipped to replace the departed Katie Holmes. I’d love to see Maggie Gyllenhaal in a Batman movie, but not as Rachel Dawes (or even a similar role to the one Rachel played in Begins). Maggie has a timeless kind of sexy that would be perfect for Selina “Catwoman” Kyle; she’s long been my top choice for the part, though nobody knows if Nolan’s Batman universe will even get around to Catwoman. Michelle Pfeiffer was awesome in Burton’s Batman Returns, but the character was nothing like the Catwoman from the comics. Maggie Gyllenhaal would perfectly embody the real Selina Kyle. Meow. As for Eckhart, he was pure evil in Neil LaBute’s In the Company of Men. He’s an awesome actor and a good lookin’ dude, and he’d be perfect for Dent in Batman. Sign the contract and let’s get this thing rolling.

Okay.

On to other things.

I like Joss Whedon. I didn’t watch Buffy or Angel, but I loved Firefly and its feature film finale, Serenity. I was among those hopeful that he’d get the X-Men 3 gig after Bryan Singer left, based on Whedon’s excellent stories in Marvel’s Astonishing X-Men comic. He’s always had a well-deserved reputation for writing strong female characters, which made me quite happy when it was announced that he’d be writing and directing a new Wonder Woman movie.

But Whedon admitted in interviews that he was having trouble with the script, leading up to his announcement yesterday that he’s now off the project. I’d love to know what he had in store for the character. Who knows? Grey’s Anatomy producer/writer Allan Heinberg has been writing the best Wonder Woman story I’ve read in years in the comics right now; I’d love to see him get a crack at writing the movie.

The saddest thing about this is that Whedon revealed the actress he wanted for Wonder Woman.

Cobie Smulders, best known for her role on the CBS series How I Met Your Mother. She’s a vision of fresh-faced, blue-eyed perfection, and I’d have loved to have seen her decked out in the red, gold and blue. Oh, well. Maybe she can still play the part with another director? We’ll see.

Then there’s the announcement by David Goyer on his MySpace page that his Flash movie is now dead in the water at Warner Bros.

Gar!

Goyer wrote the Blade movies and co-wrote Batman Begins with Christopher Nolan. He’s got a great grasp on making the most far-out concepts seem real, without losing their inherent sense of wonder. He was working with real physicists on the Flash script to make sure the science was right and tight. Better yet, he wanted Ryan Reynolds to play the Flash. Which would have been awesome, because Reynolds is great in everything he does. (I’m sorry, Melissa, but this means you probably won’t get to see sexy Ryan Reynolds in the glistening crimson tights. But you can imagine it, just as I’m imagining Cobie Smulders as Wonder Woman. Delicious.)

Oh, well. I hope these projects end up in equally capable hands. More news as it happens.